Unfold—An interactive experience on mixed reality platform to solve communication problems faced by children with ASD in the age group of 4-7 years.

Improving communication with a child with ASD has become an indispensable need in order to make the life smooth for the special child. Research has shown that communication gets driven by mood dynamics, non-verbal interactions, gestural communication and expressions. With the growth in technology, mixed reality and eye tracking are playing a major role in imparting experiences and making us learn about an environment without having to physically be in them. This research work explores how mixed reality can take a child with ASD through an experience that could help them open up and communicate well with others both with and without ASD. A series of training involved aims at an interaction and understanding gestures of others followed by initial training with child himself and animated creature through interaction. This overall experience integrates interactive play and human gestures in the way it happens in the real world. This will train and help enhance their willingness to share, interact and communicate with others besides training the motor skills. The resulting interactive environment addresses communication problem by introduction of a communicative and adaptive medium between a child with ASD and others

Reflections on the role of the ‘users’: challenges in a multi-disciplinary context of learner-centred design for children on the autism spectrum

Technology design in the field of human–computer interaction has developed a continuum of participatory research methods, closely mirroring methodological approaches and epistemological discussions in other fields. This paper positions such approaches as examples of inclusive research (to varying degrees) within education, and illustrates the complexity of navigating and involving different user groups in the context of multi-disciplinary research projects. We illustrate this complexity with examples from our recent work, involving children on the autism spectrum and their teachers. Both groups were involved in learner-centred design processes to develop technologies to support social conversation and collaboration. We conceptualize this complexity as a triple-decker ‘sandwich’ representing Theory, Technologies and Thoughts and argue that all three layers need to be appropriately aligned for a good quality ‘product’ or outcome. However, the challenge lies in navigating and negotiating all three layers at the same time, including the views and experiences of the learners. We question the extent to which it may be possible to combine co-operative, empowering approaches to participatory design with an outcome-focused agenda that seeks to develop a robust learning technology for use in real classrooms

Computers as an environment for facilitating social interaction in children with autistic spectrum disorders

Autism is a developmental condition that affects communication, imagination and social interaction. Of these three impairments, it is the last which has the greatest negative impact on the life of children with autism and their families. Different intervention programs have attempted to address social interaction difficulties but there is clearly a need for a school-based program that helps develop social interaction and promote social skills within educationally 'natural' settings.Teachers, parents and researchers widely believe that children with autism enjoy using computers and in most western countries, most children with autism have access to them at home or at school. Drawing from communication theory, this thesis explores the hypothesis that computers can provide a motivating, real-life environment in which social interaction in children with autism can be facilitated.In a series of staged studies, the ways in which computers might be used to facilitate social interaction are investigated. The first phase established the level of access to computers that children with autism typically now have and how educators currently use computers with this group of children. The experience of those working in non-school based programmes aimed at developing social interaction in children with autism was also explored. It was also necessary to explore any inherent constraints on the development of software specifically aimed at children with autism.Having established available resources and constraints, the thesis then explored the social behaviours of children with autism within a computer-based environment, using play-based activities. In a number of interlinking studies, differences and similarities in social interactions were explored when i) working on a paper-based versus computer-based version of the same two player game, ii) playing the same game at the computer, either against a partner or alone, and iii) working with a partner on a series of graded, computer-based jigsaw puzzles, with the partner acting either as a collaborator or competitor.The findings presented illustrate the potential for eliciting increased social interaction in children with autism when working alongside other with computers, and suggest the possibility that time spent with computers by children with autism may help them to gravitate from a solitary activity towards a social one. The relevance of the findings of these studies to practice are discussed and the need for further studies highlighted

A serious game to provide social skills training for people with Asperger's Syndrome/High-Functioning Autism

This thesis presents the development and evaluation of a prototype serious computer game to provide social skill training for young adults and adults with High-Functioning Autism. Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition changing the way people see the world and interact with others. It occurs on a spectrum of severity, with individuals at the less severe end classified as having High-Functioning Autism (HFA). Individuals with HFA present above average intelligence but socio-communicative deficits in non-verbal and verbal behaviour. As individuals with HFA transition into adolescence and adulthood, they struggle to sustain education, employment, and social relationships. Socio-communicative deficits can be positively addressed through social skills training interventions, designed and delivered by behaviour therapists. However, these therapies are not readily available to most individuals due to the intervention costs and shortage of specialized therapists. Computer interventions designed to address socio-communicative deficits among children, adolescents and adults with HFA show promising results. One style of intervention is the serious game format. Serious games are designed to deliver learning outcomes, but present as games, and so typically have greater appeal than overtly pedagogical software. A game was created in Unity 3D as a first-person view of a restaurant environment and experience. In the game, the participant walks into a restaurant, interacts with a greeter, is led to a table and seated, and is joined for dinner by a friend. The game integrates features from social skill training interventions with the interactive experience, addressing multiple social skills. Evaluation of the game for its effectiveness and usefulness for social skills training showed that it provided a plausible learning environment, in that it raised awareness of skills and neurotypical behaviour, and it reduced anticipated anxiety for most trial participants towards future situations in which the social skills might be needed. The level of realism achieved was not demonstrated to be sufficient to provide a fully immersive experience particularly with respect to the skill of making and maintaining eye contact. Further work is required to make the serious game sufficiently realistic to provide a complete training experience, and to find out if the training it offers can be transferred into real world interactions

Learning to work together: designing a multi-user virtual reality game for social collaboration and perspective-taking for children with autism

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) find it difficult to engage in reciprocal, shared behaviours and technology could be particularly helpful in supporting children’s motivations and skills in this area. Designing educational technologies for children with ASD requires the integration of a complex range of factors including pedagogical and cognitive theories; the affordances of the technology; and the real-world contexts of use. This paper illustrates how these factors informed the design of a novel collaborative virtual reality environment (CVE) for supporting communicative perspective-taking skills for high-functioning children with ASD. Findings from a small-scale study involving eight typically developing (TD) children (aged 8 years) and six children with ASD (verbal mental age 9 years) are also reported. Children with ASD were supported to be reciprocal and collaborative in their responses, suggesting that this CVE could form the basis for a useful technology-based educational intervention

Accommodating Asperger's: an autoethnography on the learning experience in an e-learning music education program

Thesis (D.M.A.)--Boston UniversityA student with Asperger's Syndrome faces a complex myriad of learning disabilities and social difficulties. The co-morbid conditions of dyslexia, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder and anxiety further complicate Asperger's Syndrome. Asperger's Syndrome and these conditions, singularly and in combination, have the potential to significantly hamper a student's achievement and success in learning environments. I am a person with Asperger's Syndrome, formerly diagnosed as Autism Spectrum Disorder-High Functioning, engaged in Boston University's Doctorate in Music Education Program delivered via E-learning modalities. The research question, "How does the E-learning modality serve the needs of a student with Asperger's Syndrome in the field of music education?" was a direct product of my personal experience with the convergence of E-learning, music education and Asperger's Syndrome. Autoethnography was employed as the research strategy to explore this convergence. The primary data source was a journal spanning almost three decades in conjunction with artifacts and other data sources. The data analysis and interpretation was completed through self-reflective and selfnarrative writing. The findings of this study, suggest that while E-learning modalities present both positives and negatives for students with Asperger's Syndrome; the potential to alleviate many of the challenges they face makes this is an excellent alternative to the traditional classroom educational delivery method in the field of music education. Further this research highlights the importance for educators to reflect on their own teaching methods and the profession to continually evaluate the methods utilized in delivering content and assessing achievement

The role of supporters in facilitating the use of technologies by adolescents and adults with learning disabilities: a place for positive risk-taking?

The role of supporters in facilitating access to and use of technology by people (adolescents and adults) with learning disabilities has not been the primary focus of much of the research that has been undertaken to date. The review of literature presented in this paper suggests, however, that issues of support, risk and safety are emerging as factors that have a significant influence on the quality of technology access and use that adults with learning disabilities experience. There is a need for more research into how the relationship between supporters, technologies, adolescents and adults with learning disabilities is mediated by risk, and this paper offers an original perspective on how positive risk-taking might be a useful conceptual framework to aid in the exploration of this relationship

Design of a Digital Comic Creator (It's Me) to Facilitate Social Skills Training for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder:Design Research Approach

Background: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often face difficulties in social situations and are often lagging in terms of social skills. Many interventions designed for children with ASD emphasize improving social skills. Although many interventions demonstrate that targeted social skills can be improved in clinical settings, developed social skills are not necessarily applied in children's daily lives at school, sometimes because classmates continue to show negative bias toward children with ASD. Children with ASD do not blame the difficult social situations they encounter on their lack of social skills; their main goal is to be accepted by peers. Objective: This study aims to design a comic creator-It's me-that would create comics to serve as transformational boundary objects to facilitate and enact a horizontal interaction structure between high-functioning children with ASD and their peers, aiming to increase mutual understanding between children at school. Methods: This research project and this study are structured around the Design Research Framework in order to develop the comic through an iterative-incremental process. Three test sessions, which included 13, 6, and 47 children, respectively, were initiated where the focus shifted in time from usability during the first two tests to the initial assessment of acceptance and feasibility in the third session. A stakeholder review, which included six experts, took place after the second test session. Results: A digital comic creator, It's me, was produced within this study. Children can create their own personal comic by filling in a digital questionnaire Based on concepts of peer support, psychoeducation, and horizontal interaction, It's me has a rigorous base of underlying concepts that have been translated into design. Based on the first test sessions, the comic has shown its potential to initiate personal conversations between children. Teachers are convinced that It's me can be of added value in their classrooms. Conclusions: It's me aims to initiate more in-depth conversations between peers, which should lead to more mutual understanding and better relationships between children with ASD and their peers. The first test sessions showed that It's me has the potential to enact horizontal interaction and greater understanding among peers. It's me was designed as a boundary object, aiming to connect the objectives of different stakeholders, and to trigger reflection and transformation learning mechanisms. The applied design research approach might be of added value in the acceptance and adoption of the intervention because children, professionals, and teachers see added value in the tool, each from their own perspectives

An Investigation of Autism Support Groups on Facebook

Autism-affected users, such as autism patients, caregivers, parents, family members, and researchers, currently seek informational support and social support from communities on social media. To reveal the information needs of autism- affected users, this study centers on the research of users’ interactions and information sharing within autism communities on social media. It aims to understand how autism-affected users utilize support groups on Facebook. A systematic method was proposed to aid in the data analysis including social network analysis, topic modeling, sentiment analysis, and inferential analysis. Social network analysis method was adopted to reveal the interaction patterns appearing in the groups, and topic modeling method was employed to uncover the discussion themes that users were concerned with in their daily lives. Sentiment analysis method helped analyze the emotional characteristics of the content that users expressed in the groups. Inferential analysis method was applied to compare the similarities and differences among different autism support groups found on Facebook. This study collected user-generated content from five sampled support groups (an awareness group, a treatment group, a parents group, a research group, and a local support group) on Facebook. Findings show that the discussion topics varied in different groups. Influential users in each Facebook support group were identified through the analysis of the interaction network. The results indicated that the influential users not only attracted more attention from other group members but also led the discussion topics in the group. In addition, it was examined that autism support groups on Facebook offered a supportive emotional atmosphere for group members. The findings of this study revealed the characteristics of user interactions and information exchanges in autism support groups on social media. Theoretically, the findings demonstrated the significance of social media for autism users. The unique implication of this study is to identify support groups on Facebook as a source of informational, social, and emotional support for autism-related users. The methodology applied in this study presented a systematic approach to evaluating the information exchange in health-related support groups on social media. Further, it investigated the potential role of technology in the social lives of autism-related users. The outcomes of this study can contribute to improving online intervention programs by highlighting effective communication approaches